Saturday, March 12

His heart is black, his eye is yellow,He bullies more attractive birds

With hoodlum deeds and vulgar words,

And should a human interfere, Attacks that human in the rear

I cannot help but deem the grackle

An ornithological debacle.

--Ogden Nash

Grackle Facts:

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Fringillidae

Genus: Quiscalus

Species: quiscula

They're taller and longer tailed than a typical blackbird, with a longer, more tapered bill and glossy-iridescent bodies. Large (11 to 13 inches)A staring black pupil is centered in a bright yellow iris. In flight their long tails trail behind them, sometimes folded down the middle into a shallow V shape. Female Grackles are a bit smaller in size, and a shorter tail.Abundant throughout North America east of a general line from New Mexico to northern British ColumbiaThey live in large nests with the bottom lined with mud, grass and animal hair.
Nests are between six and sixty feet high on branches preferably in coniferous trees, although not picky and sometimes in tree hollows and abandoned cavities, often near or over water. The nests are built by the females.The female lays 1 to 7 eggs. The color of the egg ranges from white, light blue, pearl gray to dark brownEggs incubate for 12 to 14 days.The young leave the nest 12 to 15 days after hatching though they remain near the nest for the next 1 to 2 days. The adults continue to feed the young. Grackles defend their nests fiercely by mobbing, chasing or diving at predators including humans.In winter, they join large flocks of mixed species such as European Starlings and Red-winged Blackbirds. These flocks can exceed one million birds.They eat many crops (notably corn) and nearly anything else as well.

Feeding Grackles

At feeders Common Grackles dominate smaller birds, try spreading grain or seed on the ground, as Grackles prefer to eat on the ground and perhaps this will let the smaller birds have the feeders in your yard.

Tuesday, March 8

About me

~Just A Girl

~She's a whimsical,tragical beauty~ Self-conscious and a little bit moody~
I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found
"And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about."
— John Steinbeck
"I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment."
— John Steinbeck